Hampshire fold as Middlesex break their duck
Middlesex 467-3d beat Hampshire 131 & 220 (f/o) by an innings and 116 runs
MIDDLESEX finally defied the weather, which seemed to have conspired against them yet again, to record the win captain Adam Voges thought had been coming all season.
A comprehensive innings victory against Hampshire was the result of a clinical performance with bat and ball; the home side dominating from lunch on day one. A declaration set up by centuries from Voges, Dawid Malan and keeper John Simpson was followed by a highly disciplined and relentless seam bowling display which exploited conditions perfectly.
Middlesex have been in winning positions already this season, only to be denied by the weather. They must have feared history was about to repeat itself with heavy rain on day three and overcast skies on day four. However, they skilfully maintained the pressure on Hampshire to bring to an end a run of six Championship draws this year.
Toby Roland-Jones, who picked up four wickets in Hampshire’s first innings, was quick to praise the batsmen for laying the foundation and then stepping up a gear on the second morning with 125 runs coming in just 19 overs.
“The way our guys batted on a pitch that really was doing a bit to set up the game with the weather around – not only was it selfless but also pretty skilful in the way they went about it,” he said. “It’s not as easy as it sounds just to go out there and force the issue. It really gave us the momentum.”
Tim Murtagh started the Hampshire collapse with three top-order wickets in his opening 11-over spell. It was a lesson in how to bowl on this surface and he was well backed up by the rest of the Middlesex seam attack who extracted movement by pitching the ball up and targeting the batsmen with some well-directed short balls.
James Fuller had a Middlesex Championship debut to remember, picking up five wickets to help seal victory.
Roland-Jones said: “Murts used the momentum created by the batsmen to perfection, really breaking it open for us, and then we’ve just maintained that throughout as a unit, so it really has all clicked.”
For Malan this was his third big score in as many games against Hampshire this year following a century at the Ageas Bowl in the Championship and 93 in the T20 at Uxbridge last Friday. His duel with former West Indian paceman Tino Best added real drama on day one.
“It’s not every day you have guys who bowl good pace and are happy to try and pepper you,” said Malan. “It’s always a good challenge when he’s steaming in, having a lot to say and wanting to get the ball up to you. When you play the same teams in a short period of time, you work out your game plans to certain bowlers and if you get runs you stick to them.”
While Middlesex batted in the best of the weather on day one, Hampshire will rue letting the hosts get away after reducing them to 14-2 on the first morning.
Malan said: “I think we were helped by some short bowling which got us away from the danger areas which were the fuller ones.”
Voges said his side had played a brilliant four days of cricket. “I think we’ve been playing some really good cricket in the last couple of weeks and as a bowling unit that’s probably the best we’ve been this season.
Hampshire captain Will Smith admitted his side had let Middlesex get away: “The way we’ve batted, against what was a very high-skilled, resolute and relentless attack really, was below par.
“It was the right result absolutely. It’s good we’ve got a break now before our next four-day game to give us a look and review a few things to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”